US- Russia Sign Deal to “Dispose” Plutonium

On Tuesday, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov signed an agreement to “destroy” 34 metric tons of plutonium by burning it in nuclear reactors. The U.S. will be contributing roughly $400 million dollars to the Russian efforts.

However, many skeptics are worried about the validity of the program, because the nuclear reactors used by the Russians are also capable of reprocessing the fuel back into weapons grade plutonium. Additionally, some experts also worry that the transportation of plutonium and the downgraded nuclear product known as “MOX” (a fuel useful in civilian-use reactors) is vulnerable to theft.